The fishing for trout has a wide following of aficionados. Trout fishing is principally accomplished with lures in the form of artificial flies which are made up to resemble natural trout food. Why a selectively feeding trout happens to accept or reject a particular fly is a mystery of trout fishing. The question has been studied by anglers for centuries and by laboratory scientists for decades. A few partial answers have been developed. One large question about which many anglers wonder is how a trout can be sometimes so fussy over the body color of a particular dry fly while apparently ignoring the large and blatantly obvious hook extending from the rear of the fly. This question is unresolved. Fly tiers attempt to relate the color and configuration of a fly to the natural insects which are the food of many of the trout. However, while simple in logic, the creation by tieing of artificial flies which closely resemble the natural food is not the answer to all questions. The basic answer to a successful artificial fly is that the trout likes it.
The fly tier is searching for an artificial fly which will cause the trout to rise. As noted above, it is not necessarily a question of resembling natural food, but one that is attractive to the trout. It is also interesting to find that different artificial flies work best on different trout streams. For this reason, it is desirable to tie your own fly so that you can create an artificial fly which is attractive to the trout in your stream.